I was wondering how far exhibitors travel their dogs to shows, especially those of you in Australia, America and Canada? We are very lucky where we live in central England. Although we live in the countryside we are only 15 minutes drive away from 3 motorways to take us either north or south of the country. We also have 2 showgrounds within 3/4 of an hours drive away where there are several Championship shows held throughout the show season. The longest journey we undertake is to shows in Scotland which take about 5 hours.

We were lucky where we used to live as it was only 45 minutes away from the NSW canine council grounds where most major shows are held. Now we are 6 hours north of that, so it's a bit harder to get to the big shows, although there are still championship shows within about an hours drive. If we were to go to the only deerhound specialty show in Australia, it would be an 18 hour drive at least. Unfortunately there is a limit on the crate size you can take on domestic flights, so that puts flying out of the question.

Wow, 18 hours drive, we'd fall off our 'island' if we attempted that! Where abouts are you Bundaleer? I tend to travel no more than 2 hours.

We used to live in the outskirts of Sydney on 5 acres, but now we're on 50 acres 6 hours north of that near Coffs Harbour. The only deerhound specialty show is in Melbourne, Victoria, where most of the Australian deerhounds are. Thats about 12 hours drive (1200km)south of Sydney. We've never gone down to it but I have friends in Sydney that have. I suppose you get used to the distances out here, it used to take Dad an hour and a half to get to work every day
Travelling that far for a show would be a very infrequent thing, otherwise 2 hours would probably be the max! Then again I have seen people around the shows with huge campervans, fitted out with dog cages, beds, showers, kitchens etc, so some here take it pretty seriously!

The main dog show area in the south of Tassie is only 20 minutes away but we will travel up to an hour to go to Huonville or 1 1/2 hours to go to Campbelltown but no further. I would love to go to some of the northern shows but I don't like driving too far and hubby doesn't like the distance.
I took Bree to the Specialty 3 years ago. She fit into the largest crate allowed (just) and that is an hours flight. Otherwise it is a four hour drive and overnight on the ferry to Melbourne. Since I'm wary about driving long distance the second option is out though many people do it. Looks like Lockie will stay a local load as he won't fit on the plane
Hopefully Bree still fits into the largest crate as we have plans for her soon and she is going to Melbourne.

I guess we are lucky living just outside Melbourne as our Specialty show and a lot of the all breeds shows are held at KCC Park which is about half an hour drive from us. We do sometimes go to the country shows which are usually arranged to have 2 or 3 shows in a weekend, so we find somewhere to stay for a couple of nights, usually with some friends and make weekend of it.

I have been told of people in America who drive 1 or 2 days to shows, now that's ENDURANCE. Wonder what the ever rising price of petrol will do to this?"??

That's true, here in the states some things are pretty spread out. A friend, who lives about 30 miles from me, just returned from the National Specialty. She flew from here to New York to meet up with a nother deerhounder, who had asked her to help out. They drove from there to California with I think four or five adult Derries and a Derrie pup and one whippet. They were several days on the road. Several days in California at the National and other shows, then drove back, again several days. Now that does not happen often, but is an extreme example of things here--however the increase in petrol prices has cut down on show attendance. I haven't been to any since last April. though there is a supported in Sept. and that's about a 6 hour drive, that's one I'll attend.